Cape Town - SANDF chief Lieutenant General Solly Shoke
must explain to Parliament whether soldiers are properly equipped to help with
peacekeeping efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the DA said on
Monday.

DA MP David Maynier said he would write to the defence
standing committee chairperson asking for Shoke to brief Parliament on the
deployment of SA National Defence Force (SANDF) troops in the eastern DRC.

"The SANDF’s mission is peace enforcement, rather
than peacekeeping, and there is not only a high risk of casualties, but also of
being drawn into a regional war with countries, such as Rwanda, who are
allegedly supporting rebel groups, such as the M23, in the eastern DRC,"
Maynier said.

The mission was high-risk and South Africa could not
afford a "repeat performance of the military disaster in the Central
African Republic" on 23 March when 13 SANDF soldiers were killed.

"We must be sure that the SANDF [troops] are
properly equipped to execute the task assigned to them by the United
Nations," Maynier said.

Last week, President Jacob Zuma informed Parliament that
1 345 soldiers had been deployed to the DRC.

The deployment was from 13 June 2013 to 31 March 2014.

The expected cost of the deployment was R402 800 000.

The soldiers would be part of a "force intervention
brigade", under the UN Monusco peacekeeping force.

On Friday, SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said the
intervention brigade comprised soldiers from South Africa, Tanzania, and
Malawi, and was mandated to engage "armed groups".

"They will not wait and watch while civilians are
being attacked by armed groups," Dlamini said at the time.

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